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Bizarre ‘panda bat’ found in South Sudan
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London - Researchers have hailed a bat that looks uncannily like a panda bear as “the find of a lifetime”.
The bat, discovered in South Sudan, is so rare researchers believe it is an entirely new genus.
“My attention was immediately drawn to the bat’s strikingly beautiful and distinct pattern of spots and stripes,” said Bucknell University associate professor of biology DeeAnn Reeder, who made the discovery.
“It was clearly a very extraordinary animal, one that I had never seen before – I knew the second I saw it that it was the find of a lifetime.”
After returning to the US, Reeder determined the bat was the same as one originally captured in the nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1939 and named Glauconycteris superba, but she and colleagues did not believe that it fit with other bats in the genus Glauconycteris. Reeder spotted the animal in Bangangai Game Reserve.
“After careful analysis, it is clear that it doesn’t belong in the genus that it’s in right now,” Reeder said.
“Its cranial characters, its wing characters, its size, the ears – literally everything you look at doesn’t fit. It’s so unique that we need to create a new genus.”
In the paper, “A new genus for a rare African vespertilionid bat: insights from South Sudan” just published by the journal ZooKeys, Reeder, along with co-authors from the Smithsonian Institution and the Islamic University in Uganda, put the bat in a new genus – Niumbaha.
The word means “rare” or “unusual” in Zande, the language of the Azande people in Western Equatoria State, where the bat was captured.
The bat is just the fifth specimen of its kind ever collected, and the first in South Sudan, which gained its independence in 2011.
“Our discovery of this new genus of bat is an indicator of how diverse the area is and how much work remains,” Reeder added.
“Understanding and conserving biodiversity is critical in many ways.
“Knowing what species are present in an area allows for better management. When species are lost, ecosystem-level changes ensue.
“I’m convinced this area is one in which we need to continue to work.”
The team’s research in South Sudan was made possible by a $100 000 (R890 000) grant Reeder received from the Woodtiger Fund.
The private research foundation recently awarded Reeder another $100 000 grant to continue her research next month and to support Fauna and Flora International’s conservation programmes.
“‘To me, this discovery is significant because it highlights the biological importance of South Sudan and hints that this new nation has many natural wonders yet to be discovered,” said Matt Rice, Fauna and Flora International’s South Sudan director. “It is a country with much to offer and to protect.” – Daily Mail |
http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environm...1501986#.UW_GWaJHIqR
(عدل بواسطة Zakaria Joseph on 04-18-2013, 03:53 PM)
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Re: Bizarre ‘panda bat’ found in South Sudan (Re: Mohammed Sedeq)
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و من العجائب انه توجد فصيلة نادرة للقهوة العربية "Wild Arabica coffee" فى مرتفعات بوما فى جونقلى و العلماء فى حيرة من امر هذه الظاهرة.
World Coffee Research Initiative in South Sudan By Emma Bladyka, SCAA Coffee Science Manager The Scene: It was the tail end of the dry season in South Sudan. Our base camp, located in the small village of Jonglei, was dusty and despite being at 1100 meters elevation, was well above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I had just hiked up all 1100 of these meters, much of which were unshaded, with only the water I could carry. Small huts made of mud and straw sat in the shade of large, broad leaved trees. There was a loud thump next to me and when I looked down I discovered a blushing yellow-green mango. The village was full of mango trees (or maybe, the mango grove was full of village). Somehow, in the most desolate season, these mango trees produce an astonishing abundance of beautiful huge fruit, oozing with sweet juicy nectar for all thirsty residents (and visiting scientists) to consume to their heart’s content. It is an amazing feat and I could not help but stop and revel in the sheer ingenuity of those trees. The mango roots systems must have been extensive and the trees resilient to support such production during the long dry season. A moment short lived, I only marveled as long as it took me to get out my knife and dig into a thirst quenching fruit. I was not there for the mangos; I was there in search of something more elusive, perhaps an even more extraordinary plant, Coffea arabica. http://www.scaa.org/chronicle/2012/05/15/wild...nical-treasure-hunt/
(عدل بواسطة Zakaria Joseph on 04-18-2013, 05:19 PM)
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